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The strike by Durham’s public high school teachers is a “local” issue that does not signal pending province-wide job action by teachers, Education Minister Liz Sandals insisted Monday.

Talks between the provincial government and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) have resumed, and there’s reason to believe a collective agreement will be achieved, Sandals said.

“I’ve been very perplexed as to why there is a strike in Durham because I haven’t heard a coherent explanation as to what the local issues are that have prompted a local strike,” she added. “So, I think I’m like a lot of parents, quite frankly, and a lot of students and I suspect a lot of teachers — that we’re all a little bit mystified as to what is the local issue that has prompted this strike.”

Two-tier teacher negotiations occur in Ontario.

The union representing teachers bargains major financial issues such as salary with the provincial government. School trustees negotiate with the local arm of their teachers’ union to address issues unique to respective school boards.

An OSSTF spokesperson was not available Monday to address Sandals’ comments.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the Durham strike cannot be dismissed as a “local” OSSTF strike, but rather is a response by teachers to provincial cuts in education spending.

The cash-strapped Kathleen Wynne government is stripping resources out of the system, leading to school board demands for larger class sizes, she said.

“This is the first time the teachers have been on the picket line since Mike Harris and it is because the Liberals are cutting back education,” Horwath argued. “It’s because the teachers are seeing, education workers are seeing, the impacts of Liberal cuts on the quality of education... It’s shameful and it’s a black eye, I believe, on Kathleen Wynne.”

Progressive Conservative MPP Garfield Dunlop said the blame for the difficult teacher negotiations — either at the local or provincial level — lies with the Ontario Liberal government.

After years of fiscal mismanagement, the Liberal government has no money to resolve these issues, he said.

Dunlop said labour disputes could easily spread to other areas of the provinces where OSSTF locals have a strike mandate from their members.